Arab World Protests and a California Special Election
Can Col. Gaddafi and/or the oil-rich countries of the Middle East sway a California special election? Okay, let’s agree that the scenario I am about to examine is way down the road and things will change in a few months. But it is possible that the revolutionary actions in the countries along the rim of Africa and the Middle East could play a role if California holds a special election in June.
How so? You already know the answer: the price of gasoline. The price is already affected by the uncertainty in the region and if the unrest ever hits Saudi Arabia the price would blow through the roof like a gusher on an old-fashioned oil derrick.
Increased prices for crude oil translate to increased prices for gasoline at the pump. CNBC Executive Editor, Patti Domm, said clues to whether the United States hits $4-a-gallon gasoline would first show right here in the Golden State. “Let’s watch California. California is the first state that will see prices go up to the point that will really impact consumers.”
Marc Antony at the Grave of the California Dream
Friends, Californians,
countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury the California dream, not to praise it
The nasty debts and obligations that the
state incurred funding the dream of a better opportunity for the next
generation persists long after the money is spent,
The good done, by say, a good public
education is interred with the loser who got the education,
So let it be with the dream … The noble
Brown
Hath told you the old dream was too ambitious for these times;
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath the dream answered it
Here, under leave of Brown and the wise men of California,
(For Brown’s budget is honest;
So are its provisions all; all honest and realistic)
Come I to speak at the funeral for the dream
A well-funded California was a friend to our ancestors, and seemed like a
promise to my generation,
Another CA manufacturer gone, but we fail to acknowledge the problem
Yesterday the Inland Daily Bulletin wrote about a California-based hydrogen-powered fuel cell company, Bing Energy, deciding to locate its manufacturing, along with a headquarters and a technology lab, in Tallahassee, Florida.
Bing officials indicated clearly that it was 15 percent cheaper to operate in Florida and that the Sunshine state unequivocally wanted them there.
In the same article, Chris Thornberg of Beacon economics countered, "we’ve lost a lot of manufacturing jobs, but a lot less than in other states. California (manufacturing) is weathering the storm better than the nation overall."
The Public Policy Institute of California similarly countered that, "only a small fraction of the state’s job losses are due to businesses leaving the state."
Business and Labor Join Together on Important Issues
It wasn’t an illusion. Last week, the presidents of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO appeared before Congress together — on the same side. U.S. Chamber President Tom Donahue and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka became the "odd couple" at a Senate hearing on infrastructure. The two presidents jointly advocated for investment in "building roads, bridges, high-speed broadband, energy systems and schools." While they may differ on details, both leaders share the same goals — creating jobs and successfully competing in the global economy.
This week, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the L.A. County Federation of Labor testified before Congress toward the same goal. The same U.S. Senate committee held a field hearing in Los Angeles on Wednesday. We advocated for infrastructure funding to advance projects in L.A. County, especially the innovative 30/10 initiative. Our two organizations meet on a weekly basis with other stakeholders to push this transportation and jobs plan forward.